Social Problems in Macau - OpenEdition

China Perspectives 62 | november - december 2005Varia

Social Problems in MacauZhidong Hao

Édition électroniqueURL : http://journals.openedition.org/chinaperspectives/552DOI : 10.4000/chinaperspectives.552ISSN : 1996-4617

ÉditeurCentre d'étude français sur la Chine contemporaine

Édition impriméeDate de publication : 1 décembre 2005ISSN : 2070-3449

Référence électroniqueZhidong Hao, « Social Problems in Macau », China Perspectives [En ligne], 62 | november - december2005, mis en ligne le 01 décembre 2008, consulté le 28 octobre 2019. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/chinaperspectives/552 ; DOI : 10.4000/chinaperspectives.552

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Social Problems in Macau

Zhidong Hao

1 Similarly with Auden’s observations above, the actual social problems of Macao are

much more intense in the gambling area of town than in public services or workers,

and these may include those from the gangster groups that control prostitution, or the

derelicts and impoverished who lose all money gambling. Women prostitutes, for

instance, sent from poor villages in north China, are held in near slavery by these local

elements, and the police seem to actually look the other way. That may very well be

true, and it has probably been true since the rise of the gambling industry in the middle

of the nineteenth century.

2 This article is not, however, focusing on the problems in the area of gambling, which, as

the reviewer points out, are “eminently worth an article”. Rather, the intention is to

give a bird’s eye view of the social problems in Macau, including gambling. Specifically,

the issues discussed here are gender inequalities, race and ethnic relations, class

inequalities, urban housing, traffic and transportation, air pollution, crime and deviant

behaviour, and education.

3 Some of these issues, such as gender, crime and education, can be viewed as problems

of the human environment, and others, like housing, air pollution and traffic, can be

viewed as problems of the physical environment. These problems interact with and

influence one another2.

4 Is it true that “nothing serious can happen here”, as Auden sarcastically observes? This

article implies that further development towards a democratic political polity and a

stronger civil society may be more important than any single force in dealing with

Macau’s problems.

Gender issues

5 In traditional Chinese culture, women have a lower status than men in terms of power,

wealth and prestige. We will look at some of the important indicators of women’s

status: the number of women in important political positions, the money they make,

and how they feel about themselves and their position relative to that of men3.

6 Women constituted 52% of the population of 465,000 in Macau at the end of 2004. Yet,

out of the 27 legislators in the second Legislative Assembly of the Macau Special


China Perspectives, 62 | november - december 2005

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Administrative Region of the PRC, only five, or 18.52% of them, were women4. Women

constitute about 20% to 40% of the government officials at various levels in Macau,

except at the lowest rank (see Table 1). The average number is already fairly high

compared with the PRC5.

1. Proportion of women and men among gouvernment officials

7 According to He Gui-ling, women constituted 47.2% of the labour force in 2002, yet they

comprised only 0.6% of business employers and 1.3% of business owners6. Men and

women also vary greatly in the amount of money they make. In manufacturing, men

make an average of MOP$5,901, while women make only MOP$3,974. In utilities supply,

the figures are MOP$19,298 vs. MOP$15,036; in hotels, restaurants, and similar

activities, MOP$6,578 vs. MOP$4748; and in financial institutions, MOP$16,746 vs.

MOP$10,6367. On average, women earn 70% of a male’s salary.

8 It is of note that there are fewer women than men in the first three categories of work,

which are the three highest paid (see Table 2); women are more likely to be clerks or

unskilled workers who are lower paid8.



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2. Number of People in Different Categories of Employement

9 It is not clear to what extent such differences are due to gender discrimination. But we

may determine a hint of the problem in a survey of Macau women by Penny Chan in the

early 1990s9. According to this survey, 77.0% of the women felt that they had equal

status with the males in their families, and 13.5% of them felt that they had low or

lower status in the family. In the workplace, only 59% felt they were equal to men in

status, and 30% felt they had low or lower status than men. In addition, while 75.5% felt

they were not discriminated against because they were women, 19.4% did think that

they were.

Ethnic relations

10 Since East-West exchanges began in the 1500s, Macau has at one time or another been

one of the most international cities in China. The emergence of an independent

Macanese community implied both a clash and integration of civilisations10. According

to the 2001 census, Macau had a population of 435,235. Of that population, 95.17%, or

414,200, were Chinese by nationality; 2.02%, or 8,793, were Portuguese11; 1.23%, or

5,334, were Filipino12; 0.17%, or 733, were Thai; 0.28%, or 1,217, were American and

Canadian; and 1.15%, or 4,985, were other13. Although the population in early 2005 was

469,000, the proportion of each group has most likely changed very little. Given the fact

that the large majority of the population is Chinese, and the Chinese in Macau have

political power since the handover in 199914, one might assume that the effect of

ethnocentrism and racism may not be very noticeable. This may be true in particular

because the non-Chinese population is comparatively small and members of these

groups have a relatively high social status15. That said, the existence of multiracial

groups in Macau, among them those with a lower socio-economic status, indicates a

possible ethnic relations issue. Such issues need to be addressed if the government

wants to create a more fair and just society in Macau.

11 After the handover, the Macanese community understandably felt concern for the

preservation of their cultural heritage, even of their power, as they feel a need to

maintain a fairly high social status as a minority group in a sea of Chinese.

12 On the whole, however, the Macanese and Portuguese seem to be doing well. While

some have taken on other positions following their government service, others have

stayed in the government to play more important roles. In addition, the Macanese and

the Portuguese have maintained their niche in the arena of law in Macau. They have

insisted, and succeeded, in maintaining the use of Portuguese, almost exclusively in the

higher courts, along with Chinese in the lower courts16. UNESCO’s approval of Macau as



3

a world heritage site in 2005 should also give the Macanese and Portuguese a boost in

preserving their culture. Efforts to use Macau as a platform for economic co-operation

among the Portuguese-speaking countries in the world can also help enhance the

importance of the Macanese community.

13 Nonetheless, ethnic groups in Macau are still socially separate from one another,

although this may change with the younger generation. While the older Macanese

generations’ social circles remain largely Portuguese-speaking, the younger

generations tend to be speak two or three languages or are even bi- or tri-lingual and

tend to have more friendly contact with Chinese people than in the past, though social

boundaries remain17. The same applies to the relationship between Chinese and other

groups, including foreigners. Our interview data finds that foreigners and the local

Chinese have little social contact with one another, as the Cantonese and Fujianese,

especially the older generations18. As one of the reviewers points out, “The number of

mainland Chinese becoming resident in Macao has increased in the last ten years.”

Thus there is conflict between new and old immigrants, and among the Macanese,

Hong Kong Chinese and mainlanders, who are all Chinese.

14 The Filipina interviewed felt that she suffered discrimination by the local Chinese. Even

though this may have to do with her social status, as many in Macau are maids to

families in Macau, the discrimination exists19. This treatment is very similar to that of

South and South-East Asians by the Chinese in Hong Kong. As the latter example

indicates, class may not matter. Race does20.

15 In a word, although ethnic relations in Macau seem to be cordial, there is separation. In

other words, groups still tend to keep their distance from one another. One group is

generally not in the inner circles of the other. Above all, ethnocentrism, racism and

discrimination can often be a problem. Cultural integration is thus still a mission

unaccomplished, despite frequent claims to the contrary, and as such claims of any

government that its society is a fair and just one are disputable. For cultural

integration and development to occur, everyone in Macau, people from all the different

cultures there, as well as the government, must make an effort to create a Macau

identity that all who live in Macau can share and enjoy and live in co-operation, which

must be through basic education and understanding of Macau’s history and culture.

Income inequalities

16 In July 2001, the number of the employed was 215,059. Of that number, 57.6% made less

than MOP$6,000, 20.5% made between MOP$6,000 and MOP$9,999, 15.2% made between

MOP$10,000 and MOP$19,999, and 5.6% made MOP$20,000 or above21. (Meanwhile 1.1%

of the employed were family helpers without pay)22. Thus a majority of the people in

Macau made less than MOP$6,000.

17 It is true that the economy has picked up since then. But benefits do not seem to be

distributed any more equally, and the gap between the lower and upper salaries of

earners remains large. People working in industries related to gaming have seen

increases in earnings, especially in hotels and restaurants. For example, by the end of

2004, the average salary in wholesale and retail businesses was MOP$5,972, with an

increase of 6.4% over the same period in 2004, and the average salary in the hotel and

restaurant industries was MOP$5,593 in the first quarter of 2005, with an increase of

4.7%23. Employees in the gaming industry averaged MOP$10,730 in 2004, the Chief

Executive now makes MOP$136,000, a chief secretary responsible for a number of

bureaus makes MOP$102,170, and an Assembly legislator makes MOP$34,05024.



4

18 In addition, while the cost of living has been rising, many workers’ salaries remain

unchanged. Salaries in the retail sales industry have not increased. Rather they

decreased during the SARS epidemic in 2003 and have remained at this level.

Meanwhile some such businesses have applied for more migrant workers from outside

Macau to pay lower wages. People have to work longer hours, more than the usual

eight hours a day, in order to keep their jobs (see Table 3 for the median number of

hours people work every week in different industries.)25. A survey at the end of 2004 by

the Macau General Federation of Unions found that over 60% of workers had seen no

salary increase in 2004, and that the average salary of workers in manufacturing were

lower than MOP$3,00026. The most recent data indicate that about one-third of

employees of all kinds, 78,200 people in total, made less than MOP$4,000—47,500 of

them making less than MOP$3,00027. In addition to the problems above, the number of

the underemployed was 4,339, or 1.9%, of the labour force, and the unemployed 11,046,

or 4.8%, in 200428.

3. Industires and Median Number of Hours People Work per Week

19 As a result, the gap between the rich and the poor keeps widening. The government

survey in 2002/2003 indicates that the bottom 20% of the households made an average

monthly income of MOP$3,316, with a decrease of 1.6% compared with 1998/1999,

while the top 20% of the households made an average monthly income of MOP$27,792,

with an increase of 9.5%. The Gini co-efficient was 0.45 in 2002/2003, and some Macau

economists believe that the number may have increased to 0.46 in 200529. It makes

Macau one of the areas in the world where the gap between rich and poor is the largest.

20 This gap comes with other problems. One of them is the conflict among workers and

between workers and employers. Macau workers tend to be strongly against the

importation of labour. There is a workforce of imported labour of about thirty



5

thousand in Macau now. Some employers give priority to such migrant workers and use

the local workers only as substitutes. This has aroused protests from local workers who

frequently complain to the government for violations of Macau law30. Tour bus drivers

too have found their jobs going to workers hired from outside Macau31. So far there has

been no violent conflict between local and migrant workers, but the situation has

become tense and needs the government’s serious attention. It is going to be difficult to

find a fair and just way of handling this issue.

21 The other problem, already mentioned above, is the mistreatment of workers, by

paying less while increasing work time. Migrant workers may face even more serious

problems, tending to live in crowded quarters, and in isolation from the local people. In

addition a gap in industrial health and safety causes injury and fatalities32. Oftentimes

employers will delay or refuse to pay due wages, and workers have been known to

resort to drastic measures to obtain their wages, including threatened suicides33.

22 The status of sex workers in Macau is another serious issue. If about 13% of women

workers are in prostitution in Hong Kong, one can assume the same percentage for

women in Macau, i.e., about 16,500 of them34. This is probably where the greatest

human rights abuses can be found and yet they are not really addressed by the

government.

23 To create a fair and just society, the government has to deal with the widening gap

between rich and poor. For most workers, to enforce the eight-hour work day without

decreasing their salaries might be a good place to start.

Urban housing

24 One of the things visitors to Macau may notice is the striking contrast between the

well-preserved historic buildings on one hand and the dilapidated urban housing on

the other. In the 1950s and 1960s, many five- or six-story buildings were put up in

Macau, especially on the Macau peninsula35. They are small, worn-out and sanitation is

bad. The Macau government has set a goal to rebuild these areas36. The new community

of high-rises the government is planning to build in Youhan, for example, would

include a school, a park and other community facilities like underground car and motor

cycle parking37. But this is only the planning stage, and Youhan is an experiment to see

how such projects might be undertaken. It will take years for the buildings to

materialise. Meanwhile, many other older areas are still awaiting transformation.

Finding new homes for those who will be moved is a big challenge for the government.

Some of the residents in Youhan already point out that they applied for low income

housing several years previously, but with several thousand households applying and

only a hundred homes available, as in 2004, their chances are slim38.

25 But the slow progress in urban reconstruction reinforces the gap between rich and

poor.

Traffic and transportation problems

26 Traffic problems are the first concern among young professionals, according to a

survey by Macau Polytechnic University in 200539. The other concerns are drug abuse,

public healthcare, education and social welfare. With an area of 27.5 square kilometres,

Macau had 142,583 motor vehicles (68,730 cars and 72,528 motor cycles) in 2004. In the

same year, out of the 12,758 traffic accidents involving transportation vehicles, there

were 16 fatalities, 332 serious injuries, and 3,801 minor injuries40.



6

27 Although public transportation is fairly convenient, it is not unusual for taxi drivers to

overcharge passengers or refuse to take them. In the first three quarters in 2005,

according to government statistics, 336 complaints were filed, a 15% increase over the

same period last year. Most of them were concerned about the rudeness of the drivers

and their refusal to take passengers. Among those cases, 40 were successfully

prosecuted41. And one frequently sees taxis with handles above the windows falling off

or simply broken. Like taxi drivers, many bus drivers do not seem to understand

Putonghua, either, let alone English.

28 With the rising number of vehicles, the government needs to think at least about

accident prevention, which would include road improvement, driver education, and

enforcement of rules and regulations42. For example, certain areas are accident black-

spots, which may indicate bad road planning or directions. Green lights at some

crossings last for such a short time that there is not enough time for pedestrians to

cross the road43. Drivers do not generally give way to pedestrians at crossings44. The

government, however, does not seem to be making much progress on improving the

human and physical environment regarding traffic and transportation issues.

Air pollution

29 According to the government’s Environmental Protection Committee, in 2003 there

were 14 to 24 days when the air quality was bad—the high density population areas and

roadsides being the worst affected. The overall quality of air in Macau has worsened45.

In 2004, the number of bad days had increased to 4246. Meanwhile, the number of

people with respiratory diseases has risen, according to government statistics47.

30 Although pollution on mainland China may also affect Macau’s air, there are some

major polluters in Macau as well. These are mainly the power plants, solid waste

incinerators, sewage treatment plants and cars and trucks. Whether the government is

going to take any effective measures against these polluters remains to be seen. It is an

issue of balancing business interests and the interests of the people in general in

Macau48.

Crime and deviant behaviour

31 In Macau, crime is punished by law while deviant behaviour generally raises people’s

eyebrows but bears no legal consequences.

32 The overall crime rate in 2004 was lowered by 1.4%: the number of crimes decreased to

9,786 in 2004 from 9,920 in 2003. Robberies decreased 37%, from 541 to 340, and

extortion 23.2%, from 95 cases to 73. In a small place like Macau, however, these figures

may still seem too high. In addition, theft increased 1.6 times, from 278 to 73249. In the

first quarter of 2005, theft further increased by 20%, to 786 cases in one quarter of the

year. Furthermore, the overall crime rate in the first quarter of 2005 increased by 12%

compared with the same time in 200450.

33 Some of these crimes are related to the gaming industry and the large influx of visitors

from the mainland, although the overall crime rate for mainland visitors is low, 7.6 out

of 100,000. The most reported crimes related to gaming may be usury, or “loan

sharking”, and the control of street prostitution by gangs.

34 “Loan sharking” causes the second highest number of arrests after drug-related crime

(Figure 4)51. The usury groups would lend money at high interest rates to those who lost

at gambling. If the latter could not pay the loans back, they would lock them up until

their families found the money52.



7

4. Number of Arrests by Nature of Crime in 2004

35 Gang control of street prostitution often involves violence. People from different

provinces form different gangs, entice women to Macau to work, and use them as

prostitutes to make money. The gangs would have their own turf, and the gang

members would serve as pimps, controlling the women’s money, and protecting them

from the police and competition53. There is not much research regarding women in sex

work in Macau, which is considered as deviant behaviour, if not as crime. Partly

because of the difficulty in carrying out such studies, the ones we see tend not to be

very comprehensive, albeit enlightening54.

36 Another social problem related to gaming is gambling addiction. Although not a crime,

it is considered deviant behaviour. The Institute for the Study of Commercial Gaming at

the University of Macau researched the gaming activities of Macau citizens in 200355.

Out of a representative sample of 1,121 Macau residents, ranging from ages 15 to 65, the

researchers found that two-thirds of the respondents participated in at least one kind

of gambling activity in the past year. While it may be true that most of them might

have done it for recreational purposes, 1.78% were “probable addicted gamblers”

(keneng yi chengwei bingtai dutu), and 2.50% were “probable problem gamblers”

(keneng yi chengwei wenti dutu). If the ratio holds, out of 460,000 Macau residents, that

would be 8,188 in the first category, and 11,500 in the second.

37 The problems of such gamblers can be seen, indirectly, from the following Hong Kong

example. In the year between 2003 and 2004, Ming Ai Zhan Qing Center, or Caritas A G

Counselling Centre, of Hong Kong, helped 350 addicted/problem gamblers who came to

them a first time. Each still had a debt of HK$200,000 to HK$300,000. Half were addicted

to gambling. Fifty had thought about suicide. Women gamblers had increased to 12%56.



8

38 Macau government’s Social Welfare Institute is thinking about setting up a counselling

centre as well, since problem gambling has become a serious issue as the industry

develops57. But given the scope of the problem, the government may have to encourage

more social organisations to help with the issue. This is especially true if we consider

the problems in high school students. The Institute for the Study of Commercial

Gaming at the University of Macau also found that 2.66% of high school students were

probable addicted gamblers and 5% were probable problem gamblers. These are higher-

than-average figures for Macau. The government has to start dealing with the problem

from elementary and middle school level.

Some problems in education

39 In Macau, there are 143 educational institutions. Among them, 131 provide pre-school,

primary school, middle school education and technical or occupational training. While

84.7% of these schools are private, 15.3% are public. In the 131 schools, 111 of them use

Chinese as their main teaching medium, 5 of them use Portuguese, and 15 use English.

Of the 111 private schools, 88, or 79.3% are in the government network of free and

subsidised education. There are also 15 schools of special education, and 129 places that

provide adult education. In the year 2003/2004, 96,814 students were enrolled in all

these schools. In the same year, 4,483 students graduated from high school, and 1,964 of

them graduated from vocational-technical high schools. The enrolment rate for higher

education was 39.2%, which means that the majority of the 6,447, or 3,920 graduates,

went to work or look for work58.

40 In addition, there are 12 institutions of higher learning after secondary education,

eight of which are private and four of which are public. In the 2003/2004 academic

year, 14,526 students were enrolled, with 6,566 males and 7,960 females. In the same

year, 2,743 students graduated, 1,006 males, and 1,737 females59.

41 In the same year, 4,908 students left school before graduation60. About one-third of

them went to work in the gaming industry and the rest either helped with their family

businesses or stayed at home61. Altogether 6,663 graduates from both high schools and

colleges and 4,908 students who left school early all went on to the labour market that

year62.

42 In terms of numbers, a large amount of the labour force is not well-educated. 64.7% of

the employed population in 2004 did not have a high school education (see Table 5).

Although the number of high school and college graduates had increased as compared

with the 1990 data, those who did not have a high school education still constituted

about two-thirds of people employed. More importantly, only 12.4% of them had a

college degree. Among the civil servants, only 23.3% had a university degree, and 64.8%

of them had a high school degree or lower63.

5. The Employed Population by Educational Attainment in 2004

43 In 2003 the Education and Youth Bureau distributed a survey to 3,413 public as well as

private employers, asking them to evaluate the performance of middle-school



9

graduates they had hired64. They collected 148 responses. The middle-school students

they evaluated graduated from 1966 to 2003, but mostly they were graduates from the

past ten years. The responses covered ten major industries and social organisations, 63

occupational groups, and 326 different occupations.

44 Among other things, 73.0% of employers thought that English was necessary in their

work, but only 6.8% of them were satisfied with employees’ spoken English, 29.1% were

unsatisfied, and 45.6% of them thought these employees’ English was just so-so.

Regarding Putonghua, 68.9% of employers thought it necessary in their work, but only

8.8% were satisfied with employee ability in speaking Putonghua, 20.9% were

unsatisfied, and 48.0% thought it just so-so. Regarding Portuguese, 18.2% of the

employers thought their work needed Portuguese, but only 0.7% of them were satisfied

with employee ability to speak Portuguese, 24.3% were unsatisfied, and 2.7% thought it

so-so. The rest did not express an opinion. Overall, the satisfaction level with

graduates’ language ability in English, Putonghua and Portuguese was very low. Their

scores in reading and writing were a little higher, but not very high.

45 Regarding employee ethics, employer satisfaction response was higher than their

language ability scores, 47.3%, but considering the importance of the issue, the score is

still too low. This is mostly a problem of the city’s schools. One survey found that in

1993/1994 only about one-third of the schools had classes of civic or ethics education65.

The government’s Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau has just started an information

website to publicise all kinds of activities they organise to educate citizens about

building a society where people will care about each other and about the environment.

But since this is a large social project, the Bureau’s efforts will be far from effective if

the schools are not formally involved in this in their curricula and if people do not

learn about such issues early on.

46 If graduates have no unawareness of what is civil and ethical, one can expect more

social problems, including those mentioned. As another example, in the 2005 legislative

election, over 500 complaints and inquiries were filed regarding bribery by some

candidates, and 14 cases were formally filed with the Commission against Corruption, a

government watchdog organisation66.

47 Also affecting quality of life in Macau are less serious civil and ethical problems such as:

people not queuing when waiting to get on a bus; young people not often giving up

seats to elderly people on a bus; drivers generally do not give way to pedestrians at a

crossing, etc. According to government statistics, the number of incidents of drivers

not yielding to pedestrians or vice versa increased 76.89%, from 424 to 750 in the first

ten months of 2004 compared with the same period in 2003; similarly, the number of

incidents of not following traffic signs increased 26.87% in the same period, and the

number of incidents of crossing the street in violation of traffic rules increased

96.06%67.



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6. Number of College Graduates and their Specific Degree of Study at Graduation

48 In higher education, students should have enough classes in humanities and social

sciences in addition to ethics classes, but this does not seem to be the case. Looking at

some statistics, as one can see from Table 5, from 2,743 college graduates in 2004, only

49 were graduates of social and behavioural sciences, which would have to include

anthropology, sociology, political science, economics and psychology. The University of

Macau offer all these social science programmes now except political science (they

offer public administration instead) and anthropology (although there are courses in

anthropology within the sociology programme)68.

49 Various social organisations, including churches and news organisations, will have to

play a more active role in the further development of democracy so that the

government can be more responsive to social problems and more responsible for

solving them. It is not clear how big a role Macau’s churches play. The Catholic

Church’s newspaper, Aomen guancha bao (Macau Observer), seems to be critical of the

government, for example, concerning its lack of efforts in curbing corruption. But it is

not clear how influential the paper is. The Macao Daily seems to be making a special

effort to maintain a very cordial relationship with the government. But only when

citizens are more responsible for and responsive to what is happening in the city can

they elect the most responsible and responsive decision-makers for the city, who will

then make changes for the better. Education alone is not enough to effect social

change. A more active civil society needs to be built and the political processes in

Macau have to be more open and democratic69. It is true that much change has taken

place since the handover in 1999, and Macau is seeing economic development in leaps

and bounds. But social progress is still quite slow in comparison. How and whether

people in Macau deal with their social problems will determine what kind of identity

they want to build for themselves.



11

NOTES

1. I’d like to thank Professor William Guthrie for his comments on the first draft of the

paper, and the two anonymous reviewers who made suggestions. Based on their

comments and suggestions, the paper is greatly improved. This paper is taken out of a

larger project on Macau history and society, sponsored by a University of Macau

Research Grant. I am grateful for the university’s support on this project. The author

would also like to thank the following students from the Contemporary China Studies/

Sociology Program for their help with the research on the project, in alphabetical

order: Chan Leong Fong (Fion), Cheang Mei Hou (Jasmine), Choi Lap San (Sonia), Leong

Fong Hio, Leong Mei Ian, Sam Lai San (Denise), Wong Kam Sang (Catherine), Shen Hong,

Ayano Taba, and Zhong Ning (Angelina).

2. For a book on social problems in the 1990s, see Chen Xin-xin (ed.) Aomen shehui wenti

(Social problems in Macau), Hong Kong, Guangjiaojing chubanshe, 1995.

3. For women in Macau in the 1990s, see Jesucita Sodusta (ed.) Women in Macau

Development, Macau, The Macau Foundation, 1996.

4. The percentage in Hong Kong is similar, unlike that of Northern Europe, where

women legislators in countries like Denmark and Norway may comprise over 30% of

the legislative bodies. See Lei Cheuk Fai, “Lun liangxing can zhengxing wei de chayi”

(On the difference between men and women in political participation), Aomen yanjiu

(Journal of Macau Studies), Vol. 28, June 2005, pp. 26-31.

5. In mainland China, women constitute only a little over 10% of leading cadres at

various levels of government. See “Zhongguo sheng bu ji guanyuan nüxing zhan

yicheng” (Women constitute 10% of China’s provincial level leaders), Macao Daily,

August 25th 2005.

6. See He Gui-ling, “Aomen funü yu jingji canyu” (Macau women and their participation

in economic activities), Aomen fazhan celue (Development strategies in Macau), No. 12,

August 2004, at http://www.cpedm.org.mo/c_main.html [September 5th 2005].

7.Macau Government, Statistics and Census Bureau, http://www.dsec.gov.mo/

index.asp?src=/chinese/html/c_sitemap.html [August 20th 2005].

8. For women’s educational and job opportunities, see also Liu Xian-bing, Aomen jiaoyu

shi (A History of Education in Macau), Peking, Renmin jiaoyu chubanshe, 1999, pp.

201-229.

9. See Penny Chan (Chen Xin-xin), Aomen shehui chutan (A Brief Exploration of Macau

Society), Hong Kong, wan shi wei chuban, 1992, pp. 44-65.

10. See Zhidong Hao, “The Clash of Civilizations (?) in Macau: How People Have

Interacted with Each Other in the Past 450 Years”, paper presented at the International

Symposium on the Twenty-First Century Chinese Culture, November 25th-27th, 2004,

University of Macau.

11. Some of the Portuguese passport holders are Chinese by origin. This group would

also include the Macanese (Sino-Portuguese mixed-race people native to Macau), who

numbered 4,963, or 1.14% of the population in 2001.

12. The number of Filipinas is increasing in Macau because they are more able than

other groups to use English.

13. See Huang Hanqiang and TJ Cheng, Xin lai Ao dingju zhi neidi yimin lunxi (Analysis on

Macau’s new immigrants from mainland China) (Macau: Center for Macau Studies,



12

University of Macau, 2005), pp. 13-15. See also http://www.dsec.gov.mo/search2/eng/

search.html?Search=Search [August 22nd 2005].

14. As one indicator of power changing hands, the percentage of Macanese holding

director/chief-ranking civil servant positions had already changed from 34.8% in 1987

to 14.5% in 1995, four years before the handover. See Herbert S. Yee, Macau in Transition:

From Colony to Autonomous Region, New York, Palgrave, 2001, p. 55. See also Wu Zhiliang’s

analysis on the localisation of Macau’s public servants in Wu Zhiliang and Chen Xin-xin,

Aomen zhengzhi shehui yanjiu (A study of politics and society in Macau), Macau, Macau

Association for Adult Education, 2000, pp. 100-129.

15. The Portuguese and Macanese used to be in power in Macau, and as a group they

still enjoy a high status after the handover. Most non-Asian workers in Macau hold

professional positions with the government and international business as well as with

educational institutions. Filipinos, who constitute a large part of the minority

community, tend to have lower socio-economic status.

16. This has given rise to much complaint—as most Chinese do not understand

Portuguese, why use it? For the problems in the court system involving language use,

see a group of articles in Macao Daily, October 20th 2005, p. B3. For more discussion on

the use of Portuguese in Macau, see Wang Yu, “Zhongwen shi Aomen tebie xingzheng

qu de zhuyao zhengshi yuyan” (Chinese is the main formal language in Macau SAR),

Macao Daily, August 22nd 2004; “Zai lun zhongwen shi Aomen tebie xingzheng qu de

zhuyao zhengshi yuyan” (On Chinese as the main and formal language in Macau SAR),

June 5th 2005. See also Mark Bray and Ramsey Koo, “Postcolonial patterns

and paradoxes: language and education in Hong Kong and Macao”,

Comparative Education, 40(2)215-39, 2004; S. L. Ieong, “Reflections on

the language issues in Macau: policies, realities, and prospects” in R.

Koo & H. T. Ma (eds), Macau education: continuity and change, Macau,

Macau Foundation, 1994, pp. 60-69. What language to use, Chinese, Portuguese

or English, and when, has been a battle ground for various political and economic

forces with each striving to maximise its own interests.

17. See interviews by Cheang Mei Hou, Wong Kam Sang and Zhong Ning. These and the

interviews below were carried out for this project. If there is too much integration, the

Macanese culture could be lost—a dilemma of cultural integration.

18. See interviews by Chan Leong Fong.

19. See interviews by Ayano Taba, Leong Fong Hio and Leong Mei Ian. Their interviews

find that foreigners and the local Chinese have little contact with one another.

According to one statistic, there are 2,300 domestic helpers from outside Macau. See

“Jia yong qiu guoyu gong, peidui nan” (More households want domestic help but it is

difficult to match them to families), Macao Daily, May 8th 2004. For more information on

Filipino workers in Macau, see Jesucita Sodusta, “Foreign Domestic Workers in Macau:

Gender, Power and Family Change Among Philippine Migrants,” pp. 117-143 in Jesucita

Sodusta, 1996, op. cit.

20. For a group of articles on discrimination in Hong Kong, see Tan Ruomei (May Tam),

Gu Xuebin, Hok Bun Ku, and Jiang Shaoqi Travis Kong (eds.) Gongmin shenfen de zaisi yu

dazao: Huaren shehui de shehui paichi yu bianyuan xing (Rethinking and recasting

citizenship: social exclusion and marginality in Chinese societies), Hong Kong, Center

for Social Policy Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 2005.

21. Penny Chan describes Macau’s social stratification in the 1990s in terms of the

upper class of mainly Portuguese and a few Chinese, middle class of mainly the earlier



13

generations of immigrants from the mainland and a few new immigrants, and the

lower class of mainly new immigrants and some earlier ones. See Penny Chan (Chen

Xin-xin), Aomen fazhan xiankuang (The contemporary development in Macau), Hong

Kong, Guangjiaojing chubanshe, 1993, p. 33. See also her article on a comparison

between Macau and Hong Kong in Wu Zhiliang and Chen Xin-xin, Aomen zhengzhi shehui

yanjiu (A study of politics and society in Macau), Macau, Macau Association for Adult

Education, 2000, pp. 218-239.

22. The data is based on a table in Huang and Cheng, Xin lai Ao dingju zhi neidi yimin

lunxi, p. 55.

23. See “Lingshou zhaopin da zeng, shouru yi sheng” (Retail hires more people now and

salaries have increased), Macao Daily, March 18th 2005, p. A10; “Shouji xinchou jun

sheng, jiudian yinshi zui gao” (Salaries in the first quarter of 2005 have all been raised,

and hotels and restaurants benefited the most), Macao Daily, June 18th 2005, p. A10.

24. See “Bocai ye kongque, pan zhi qi qian” (Seven thousand job vacancies in the

gaming industry), Macao Daily, March 31st 2005; “Gongwuyuan jiang jia xin” (Public

servants to enjoy salary increase), Macao Daily, February 4th 2005.

25. See “Guyuan daiyu ying shou guanzhu” (There should be concern about employees’

salaries and benefits), Macao Daily, August 22nd 2005, p. F4.

26. See “Zhizao ye yuexin bu zu san qian” (Workers in manufacturing make less than

MOP$3,000 monthly), Macao Daily, April 20th 2005.

27. See “Guan Cui-xing yu zhengshi zaizhi pinqiong” (Guan Cui-xing calls on the

government take care of the working poor), Macao Daily, July 11th 2005.

28. See data for 2004 from the Statistics and Census Bureau website at http://

www.dsec.gov.mo/ index.asp?src=/english/indicator/e_ie_indicator.html; http://

www.dsec.gov.mo/index.asp?src=/english/indicator/e_mn_indicator.html [August 25,

2005].

29. See “Ben Ao pin fu chaju qu zeng da” (The gap between the rich and the poor in

Macau is widening), Macao Daily, April 27 2005. The Gini ratio of 0 means total equality,

and 1 means total inequality. The Gini coefficient in Hong Kong was 0.5 in 2004. It was

0.447 for China in 2001. The Gini ratio was 0.325 for India in 2000, and 0.249 for Japan in

1993. See http://www.ifpri.org/pubs/abstract/138/rr138ch01.pdf. See also World Fact

Book’s China data at http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ch.html

[August 23, 2005].

30. See “You guzhu zei fa, youxian shiyong wailao” (Some employers violate the law to

give priority of work to migrant workers rather than local ones), Macao Daily, July 13th

2005.

31. See “Luyou che siji zao qiang fanwan” (Tour bus drivers find their jobs taken away),

Macao Daily, August 16th 2005, p. B1.

32. See Macao Daily, July 17th 2005, p. A3 for a number of articles discussing the death of

a migrant worker and the injury of another in a fire in the place where they lived, and

other issues regarding migrant workers.

33. At one time some workers threatened to jump from a gymnasium they were

building. Only six days later, another seven workers did the same. See Macao Daily, April

13th 2005.

34. By some estimates, there were over 200,000 sex workers, or 13% of the 1,558,100

female labour force in Hong Kong in the second quarter of 2004 (see Travis Kong, “Part

III: A Study on the Needs of Sex Workers’Children in Hong Kong” in A Report on Studies

on Deprived Children, The Social Work Professional Practice Centre, Department of



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Applied Social Sciences, Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Hong Kong Society for

Protection of Children, 2004).

35. See “Fazhan shang: jiuqu gaizao ying zhengpian kaifa” (Developers: development of

the community is the way to go in transforming older areas in the city), Macao Daily,

November 20th 2005.

36. See “Chengjian gequ tuixing, Aomen ri xin yue yi” (Urban development is

happening every day, and Macau is seen in new faces each month,” Macao Daily,

November 20th 2005.

37. See “Dangju nichai youhan qi diduan” (The government is planning to demolish

seven buildings), Macao Daily, May 21st 2005 at http://www.macau.ctm.net/modailylog/

20050521/index.htm [August 25th 2005].

38. See “Jiu qu zuhu kong zu buchang” (Tenants in the older housing may have

difficulty finding new housing), Macao Daily, May 21st 2005, p. B1. The government has

70 buildings, mostly on the Macau peninsula, and mostly in the northern part of the

peninsula, to accommodate low income families for them to either buy a home or rent

one. See the Housing Bureau’s website at http://www.ihm.gov.mo/toc.htm [August

26th 2005].

39. See “Jiaotong shu zui shou guanzhu shehui wenti” (Urban transportation issues are

social problems of most concern). Macao Daily, April 22nd 2005. For comparison

between now and the 1990s, see Zhang Jian-hao, “Jiaotong Wenti” (Traffic problems) in

Chen Xin-xin (ed.) Aomen shehui wenti (Social problems in Macau), Hong Kong,

Guangjiaojing chubanshe, 1995, pp. 89-100.

40. See Statistics and Census Bureau website at http://www.dsec.gov.mo/index.asp?

src=/chinese/html/c_sitemap.html [August 26th 2005].

41. See Macao Daily, “Shou san ji deshi tousu 336 zong” (There were 336 complaints filed

in the first three-quarters of the year), October 11th 2005, p. B7.

42. Some attribute the traffic problems to the minute experience base of the drivers

and the contempt for the law. But the law is there. If it is not enforced, it is the

government’s fault. It is a structural issue, more than a cultural one.

43. See “Xingren ludeng shijian duancu” (There is little time for pedestrians to cross

the road), Macao Daily, May 8th 2005.

44. See the story of a man seriously injured by a bus at a pedestrian crossing, Macao

Daily, September 2nd 2005.

45. See the Environmental Protection Committee’s website at http://

www.ambiente.gov.mo/schinese/05/2004/02.pdf [August 26th 2005]; see also “Ao

zhengti kongqi zhisu xiajiang” (The overall quality of Macau’s air has worsened), Macao

Daily, April 22nd 2005.

46. See “Zhu sanjiao kongqi zuran zhuanxing” (Air pollution in the Pearl River Delta

has entered a new stage), Macao Daily, April 18th 2005. p. B3.

47. See “Hongqi zhiliang cha dangju xu guanzhu” (The air quality is bad and the

government should pay attention), Macao Daily, November 3rd 2004.

48. For more discussion on the environmental issues in Macau, see Chen Xi-qiao and

Tan Wei-guang (eds.) Ershi shiji de Aomen huanjing (Macau’s environment in the

twentieth century), Macau, Macau Association for Social Sciences, 2004; Huang Jiu-shun

and Li Jin-ping (eds.), Aomen Huanjing Baohu (Environmental protection in Macau),

Macau, Macau Foundation, 1997; Francisco Nunes Correia and Pedro Liberato, Aomen

Huanjing Zhuangkuang Pinggu ji Celuexing Jianyi (An evaluation of the environment in



15

Macau and suggestions on the strategies for its protection), Macau, Social Affairs and

Budget Office, 1998.

49. See “Fanzui zei jiang baoli an jian jin liangcheng” (There is a slight decrease in

crime and the violent crimes have decreased by 20%), Macao Daily, February 8th 2005, p.

A2.

50. See “Shou ji zui an, tong bi zeng yicheng” (Crime in the first quarter of the year has

increased by 20% compared with the first quarter last year), “Yiyuan Guanzhu Shou Ji

Zuian Zengjia” (The legislator is concerned that crime rate in the first quarter has

risen), and “Zuian qu sheng dangju you ji” (Crime is rising and the government has a

way to deal with it), Macao Daily, May 7th 2005.

51. The crime rate in Macau before the handover in 1999 was high, with many unsolved

murder cases. See Li Feng-yan “Zhian wenti” (Security problems) in Chen Xin-xin (ed.),

1995, op. cit., pp. 67-88; Feng Zengjun and Li Yiming (eds), Aomen Jiaoyu Gailun (An

introduction to Macau’s education) (Guangzhou: Guangdong Jiaoyu Chubanshe, 1999),

p. 144.

52. See the example of a Peking businessman imprisoned by a group of four young

people in “Beijing shangren shu qing guili zao jingu” (Peking businessman lost the

money he borrowed and was imprisoned), Macao Daily, February 14 2005. The usury

group was composed of persons from Fujian, Hong Kong, and Macau.

53. See “Si sha zhan ren yi yan zhong shang” (Four devils stab at people and one man

was seriously wounded); “Jitou zheng shi guo jie ji huo” (Pimps compete with each

other for turf and got into violent conflict when one crosses the border), Macao Daily,

09/27/2004. For more examples of gambling related crimes, especially organized crime,

see Leong Veng Mai, Macau, Crime and the Casino State, a thesis submitted in fulfilment of

the requirements for the degree of master of philosophy (Hong Kong: the University of

Hong Kong, 2001). Leong’s study does not treat the problems of prostitution in Macau’s

gaming industry.

54. See, for example, a study by Zi Teng, Research Report on Mainland Chinese Sex Workers:

Hong Kong, Macau and Town B in Pearl River Delta, Hong Kong, The University of Hong

Kong, 2000.

55. See Feng Jia-chao and Wu Mei-bao, “Aomen jumin canjia bocai huodong diaocha”

(A study on Macau citizens’ participation in gaming), Macau, Institute for the Study of

Commercial Gaming, University of Macau, 2003.

56. See “Wenti dutu pingjun qian zhai ershi wan” (Problem gamblers on average have a

debt of HK$200,000), Macao Daily, October 15th 2004.

57. See “Bingtai dutu fudao zhongxin xia bannian yunzuo” (The counselling centre for

problem gamblers will start operation in the second half of the year), Macao Daily,

February 14th 2005, p. A6.

58. Unless specified otherwise, statistics here are from Statistics and Census Bureau’s

website, http://www.dsec.gov.mo/index.asp?src=/chinese/html/c_sitemap.html

[August 28th 2005].

59. For a history of Macau’s higher education, see Liu Xian-bing, Aomen jiaoyu shi, pp.

35-59; and Feng Zengjun and Li Yiming (eds), Aomen jiaoyu gailun, pp. 185-222. See also

Mark Bray & Ramsey Koo (eds.), Education and Society in Hong Kong and Macao:

Comparative Perspectives on Continuity and Change, Hong Kong, Comparative Education

Research Centre, The University of Hong Kong, and Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic

Publishers, 2004; and Mark Bray with R. Butler, P.K.F. Hui, O.W.K. Kwo and E.W.L. Mang,

Higher Education in Macau: Growth and Strategic Development, Comparative Education



16

Research Centre, The University of Hong Kong, 2002, at http://www.hku.hk/cerc/

Publications/he-macau.htm [11/3/2005].

60. Since most of the students who leave school before graduation are middle school

students, some suggest that the government should extend its free education up to

senior high school rather than only up to junior high. Although this measure may not

solve the entire problem, it should help. See “Liang Qing-ting yu xin xuenian puji

gaozhong jintie” (Liang Qing-ting calls on the government to begin to subsidise senior

high school education in the new academic year), Macao Daily, May 21st 2005, p. B8; see

also Wu Guo-chang’s speech on free education in senior high school on December 23rd

2004, published in Xin Aomen (New Macau), No. 26, January 2005, p. 19; and a number of

articles in issue No. 27, June 2005 of Xin Aomen. In 1997 free education was expanded to

include one year of pre-school, six years of elementary school, and junior high school

(see Liu Xian-bing, Aomen jiaoyu shi, p. 25). For more discussion on issues of education in

Macau, see also Cai Chang and Gu Ding-yi (eds.) Aomen jiaoyu yu shehui fazhan (Education

and social development in Macau), Hong Kong, Department of Educational Policy and

Administration, Hong Kong College of Education, 2001.

61. See “Lixiao ji zhuxue xuesheng diaocha tiyao baogao 2004” (A report on students

who left school before graduation in 2004), at Education and Youth Affairs Bureau’s

website at http://www.dsej.gov.mo/~webdsej/www/www_dsej_page.php?

con=www_report_page.php [August 28th 2005].

62. In fact, some of the adolescents who leave school early have become what they call

“shuan shi shaonian,” or adolescents without school and without a job. It is not unusual

to hear stories of them joining gangs of mafia types and engaging in illegal activities.

Sometimes they are supported by their businesses in the gambling industry. See “Sijing

lian gen baqi haibang tangkou” (Police raided a gang), Macao Daily, March 2nd 2005, p.

A1; “Hei tangkou duting chengyao kuo shili” (Gangs were supported by their business

in the gambling industry and they thus expanded their influence), Macao Daily, March

3rd 2005, p. A1.

63. See “2003 public administration human resources in Macau”, Macau, Public

Administration and Civil Service Bureau, 2004, p. 42.

64. See “2003 guzhu dui bendi zhongxue biyesheng biaoxian de yijian diaochao baogao”

(A report on a survey of employers regarding their employees who graduated from

middle school) at http://www.dsej.gov.mo/~webdsej/www/reference/doc/report/

2003_gra_ability.doc [August 28th 2005] by the Education and Youth Bureau.

65. See Feng Zengjun and Li Yiming (eds), Aomen jiaoyu gailun, p. 325.

66. See “Huixuan tousu zixun wu bai duo 14 zong li’an” (500 complaints or inquiries

registered concerning bribery in the legislative election and 14 cases formally filed),

Macao Daily, October 2nd 2005.

67. See “Ling san nian ji ling si nian yi zhi shiyue bufen jiaotong ziliao bijiao” (A

comparison of traffic data between 2003 and 2004 in the first ten months of each year),

Macao Daily, November 7th 2004.

68. It seems that Macau society tends to prioritise professional training more than a

well-rounded education. East Asian University, the predecessor of the University of

Macau, used to have sociology as a major, but it was cancelled in 1993, three years after

its inception. See Penny Chan (Chen Xin-xin), Aomen fazhan xiankuang, pp. II, 8-9.

Sociology as a major was not resumed until 2005.

69. For a full discussion of social organisations and how they operate, see Lou

Shenghua, Zhuanxing shiqi Aomen shetuan yanjiu (A study of Macau’s social organisations



17

in the period of transition), Guangzhou, Guangzhou renmin chubanshe, 2004; see also

Aomen fazhan celue yanjiu zhongxin (Centre for the study of development strategies in

Macau), “Aomen shetuan de xianzhuang yu qiangzhan” (The current status and future

prospects for Macau’s social organisations) in Yu Zhen, Cui Bao-feng and Zheng Wei-

ming (eds.), Aomen lishi, wenhua yu shehui (Macau history, culture and society), Macau,

Macau Foundation, 2003, pp. 7-20; Wu Zhiliang’s article on building a civil society in

Macau and Penny Chan (Chen Xin-xin)’s article on socio-political forces in Macau in

articles in Wu Zhiliang and Chen Xin-xin, Aomen zhengzhi shehui yanjiu (A study of

politics and society in Macau), Macau, Macau Association for Adult Education, 2000, pp.

204-17. Chan analyses the relationship between the middle class and democratisation,

and social forces such as A. the traditional left; B. the religious sector of society; C. the

Macanese; and D. democracy advocates, a framework based on Wu Guo-chang’s

analysis. For the reform of the government, see Bill K. P. Chou, “Public Sector Reform in

Macau after the Handover,” China Perspectives, No. 52, March-April 2004, pp. 56-63.

RÉSUMÉS

This article examines the current social problems in Macau—inequalities, problems in urban

housing, traffic and transportation, air pollution, crime and deviant behaviour, and education. It

does not focus on one social problem in detail; rather, it attempts to offer a broad picture of the

issues from a sociological perspective. To help solve these problems, it seems that Macau has to

build a stronger civil society and continue to democratise its political system. How Macau deals

with these problems will determine the identity that people in Macau want to build for

themselves1.

This city of indulgence need not fear

The major sins by which the heart is killed,

And governments and men are torn to pieces:

Religious clock will strike; the childish vices

Will safeguard the low virtues of the child

And nothing serious can happen here.

W. H. Auden (1938)



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Social Problems in Macau - OpenEdition